Sortation system

ABSTRACT

A sorting system dealing with the handling of refuse for removing and collecting the desired material, in a systematic manner whereby the same can be readily removed for reuse. Briefly, the method entails the continual segregation of the refuse material by passing the same over a series of conveyors and ultimately introducing the reusable portion into a rotary sorting table having individual trays which are capable of tilting the contents thereof in a receiving bin positioned about the outer peripheral edge of the table.

United States Patent Talamantz Apr. 16, 1974 [54] SORTATION SYSTEM 2,151,894 3/1939 Cambessedes 209 109 x [76] Inventor: Rudolph Talamantz, No. 9 Oldham Primary Examiner Allen N Knowles sllver Sprmg 20901 Assistant Examiner--Gene A. Church Filedi 1971 Attorney, Agent, or FirmA. J. Castorina [21] Appl. No.: 213,904 [57] ABSTRACT A sorting system dealing with the handling of refuse (5|. for removing and collecting the desired material in a [58] d B4 76 systematic manner whereby the same can be readily e e removed for reuse. Briefly, the method entails the 56] References Cited continual segregation of the refuse material by passing the same over a series of conveyors and ultimately in- UNITED STATES PATENTS troducing the reusable portion into a rotarysorting 1,160,792 1 H1915 Houten 198/34 table having individual trays which are capable of tilt- 2,362,677 11/1944 Stephens 198/76 ing the contents h f in a receiving bin positioned 3,595,389 7/1971 Morgan 209/125 about the outer peripheral g of the table. 3,65l,940 3/1972 Rooke 209/125 2,257,567 9/1941 Matanovich et al. 209/125 UX 10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures SORTATION SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the removal of valuable or semi-valuable materials from refuse which has been discarded and collected. Generally, and as is known, the majority of the rubbish discarded in the residential and industrial complex contain items such as metal, glass, paper, plastic, rags and wood which, if collected in segregated units, can be re-used as a source of raw material.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a means for segregating the various components of refuse as it is received from the collection vehicle.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus which involves a minimum of manual supervision in the handling of the refuse.

- It is another object of the invention to provide a sorting system which will segregate the refuse material whereby the majority of the segregated material can be ultimately used.

Still further objects and advantages will readily be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the following drawings and specification and it is to be understood that various changes can be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIGURES FIG. I is a plan view of the structural arrangement of the component parts of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial, sectional, elevational view of the refuse depositing portion of the installation, and

FIG. 3 is a partial elevational view of the refuse material handling conveyors as it deposits the refuse into the sorting trays.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. I, the'apparatus used in accomplishing the end results specified above is comprised broadly of a refuse depositing section A, leading to a primary feeding conveyor and feed conveyor and synchronized feed conveyor section B, which feeds the prime refuse material to the sorting section C which segregates the refuse into respective bins.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that depositing section A comprises a first elongated conveyor having spaced vehicle wheel engaging surface area I1, 12 disposed on either side thereof and extending the substantial length thereof.

As is seen in FIG. 2, the conveyor 10 is disposed in a pit 11 and is of the endless type having an upper and lower flight l3, l4 trained over pulleys or sprockets l5, l6, and is provided with spaces or openings 17 over its entire surface to permit the liquid contained in the refuse to drain therethrough.

These openings 17 can be of any shape or design and it is not critical to the present invention as to what type of conveyor is used, e.g., a slat type or a rubber surfaced type, as long as openings are provided.

A second endless driven conveyor 20 similar to that of conveyor 10 is disposed therebelow in substantially co-extensive relationship to receive the fluid from conveyor 10 and has a plurality of spaced slats 20' disposed about its surface for engaging and conveying the fluid into a trap or drain 21 positioned at one end thereof whereafter it will be allowed to drain into an opening or sewer. The slats 20' serve to keep the pit 11 substantially clean.

The endless conveyors 10 and 20 can be driven from any suitable source of power (not shown) and if desired conveyor 20 may be driven by the endless runs of conveyor 10.

Referring back to FIG. 1, it is seen that the roadway surfaces 11 and 12 are positioned in the same plane as the upper flight 13 of the conveyor 10 and are coextensive therewith whereby a refuse collecting vehicle can back onto the surfaces ll, 12 and straddle the conveyor 10 whereby the vehicle can approach the end of the conveyor adjacent the pulley or sprocket l5 and commence to deposit the refuse as it moves in a forward direction to the other end of the conveyor. This will serve to spread the refuse in a fashion which will make it more manageable to handle, and alternatively, the vehicle could dump the material at the other end of the conveyor and permit its motion to move it inwardly to obtain the same results. A hood and conveying apparatus 25 is placed at the inward end of the conveyor 10 and is connected to a source of vacuum, not shown, for removing dust, ashes, cigarette butts, leaves, and other light unwanted material. This material is conducted to collecting receptacles whereafter the same may be disposed.

The refuse from the conveyor 10 is discharged onto primary feeding conveyor 26 which travels faster than conveyor 10 thereby affording another inherent separating media for the refuse. Disposed about the conveyor 26 is a housing 27 having any means associated therewith for exposing the refuse to deodorants, disinfectants, or the like to aid in the sanitization of the refuse.

Thereafter the refuse from conveyor 26 is discharged onto the feed conveyor 28 which in turn is traveling faster than conveyor 26. This will in turn create a further separating and thinning of the refuse into an identifiable mass such as papers, rags, plastics, cans, etc. The aforementioned housing 27 also encloses conveyor 28 for the reasons previously mentioned. 7

The refuse from conveyor 28 is then fed into a synchronized conveyor 30 which is traveling at a speed faster than that of conveyor 28 to further separate the mass of refuse into smaller identifiable masses. The

. synchronized conveyor 30 also has a sanitizing housing 27 disposed thereabout.

The synchronized conveyor 30 discharges the refuse into a commercial presently available tray sorting machine, section C, known in the art. The end 31 of the conveyor 30 is disposed to discharge the material onto an endless conveyor 32 having trays 33 disposed therein. The conveyor 32 is arranged to present each of the trays 33 beneath the end 31 of of the synchroconveyor 30 to receive identifiable material therein. Spaced about the conveyor 32 are disposed receptacles, stalls, containers, bins or the like 34, 35, 36 to receive like sorted products such as plastics, rags, paper, etc., from each of the trays.

The above is accomplished by an operator located at a control station 38 located adjacent the end of the conveyor 30 and near the tray sorting machine 32, 33. It is the operators duty to identify the recognizable mass of refuse and to program the memory system of the tray sorting machine to achieve automatic sortation. For example, if the operator sees a mass of paper,

he will key the paper control of the memory system whereby the tray receiving and carrying the paper will discharge its contents into the bin designated for the collection of paper. In this regard, if the operator is not able to discern or identify the segregated material he may program the machine to conduct this mass into a conveyor 40 which will then return the mass to the end of the conveyor 10, whereby the same may be reprocessed. Alternatively, he may permit the unidentifiable mass to be deposited as unwanted or unsalvageable material into a debris container, receptacle, or onto a conveyor, generally shown at 42, whereby the same may be carried away to a dump, .land fill operation or any other intended use.

To maintain an atmosphere of sanitization the tray sorting machine as well as the operators station is enclosed in the manner of the previously described conveyors. The sanitary housings 27 surrounding the conveyors may be constructed from any suitable material and the only necessary criteria being at the control station where the same must be transparent for obvious reasons.

Therefore, it is readily apparent that a mass of refuse may be continually segregated into smaller identifiable masses whereby like material may be collected together in various receptacles or the like. This collected material then may be disposed as raw material to be preferably reused again.

It is apparent from the above, and the same is considered to be within the purview of the disclosure, to add or remove segregating conveyors, to add additional tray sorting sections, to drive them in any desired manner, and to arrange them in any suitable manner or design.

I claim:

1. The method ofsegregating and sorting a large mass of refuse into smaller identifiable masses by conveying the large mass of refuse into a plurality of successive conveying media wherein each successive media travels faster than the previous media thereby causing the large mass to be segregated into a plurality of smaller spaced identifiable masses. dispensing each of the smaller identifiable masses into one of a plurality of receptacles traveling adjacent said last conveying media, and thereafter discharging like identifiable masses into a common storage bin.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of withdrawing light material from the material.

3. The method of claim 1 further including the step of sanitizing the refuse by causing the same to be subjected to a cleansing atmosphere 4. The method of claim 1 further including the step of re-routing unidentifiable masses to the conveying media to thereby be reprocessed.

5. The method of claim 1 further including the step of draining unwanted liquid from the mass of refuse.

6. Apparatus for segregatig and sorting a large mass of refuse into smaller identifiable masses comprising a refuse receiving station, a first separating media means receiving refuse from the station and travelling at a speed to cause the segregating of the mass into smaller identifiable masses, at least one other separating media means travelling at a speed greater than said first means and receiving the smaller segregated masses and causing the same to be further segregated into smaller identifiable masses, a sorting means including a plurality of moving receptacles travelling at a speed substantially that of said one other separating media means and each receptacle receiving one of said smaller identifiable masses therein, a plurality of storage bins for storing like masses of refuse, and means controlling the discharging of the receptacles into selected ones of said storage bins.

7. The apparatus of claim- 6 wherein the separating media are endless conveyors in alignment with one another.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein a housing is disposed about the conveyors and the sorting means and including means to provide a sanitary atmosphere about the refuse.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the refuse receiving station includes an open type conveyor for feeding the refuse to the first separating media means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 further including a sec ond conveyor means disposed beneath said conveyor for conducting fluid drained through said conveyor to a discharge station. 

1. The method of segregating and sorting a large mass of refuse into smaller identifiable masses by conveying the large mass of refuse into a plurality of successive conveying media wherein each successive media travels faster than the previous media thereby causing the large mass to be segregated into a plurality of smaller spaced identifiable masses, dispensing each of the smaller identifiable masses into one of a plurality of receptacles traveling adjacent said last conveying media, and thereafter discharging like identifiable masses into a common storage bin.
 2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of withdrawing light material from the material.
 3. The method of claim 1 further including the step of sanitizing the refuse by causing the same to be subjected to a cleansing atmosphere.
 4. The method of claim 1 further including the step of re-routing unidentifiable masses to the conveying media to thereby be reprocessed.
 5. The method of claim 1 further including the step of draining unwanted liquid from the mass of refuse.
 6. Apparatus for segregatig and sorting a large mass of refuse into smaller identifiable masses comprising a refuse receiving station, a first separating media means receiving refuse from the station and travelling at a speed to cause the segregating of the mass into smaller identifiable masses, at least one other separating media means travelling at a speed greater than said first means and receiving the smaller segregated masses and causing the same to be further segregated into smaller identifiable masses, a sorting means including a plurality of moving receptacles travelling at a speed substantially that of said one other separating media means and each receptacle receiving one of said smaller identifiable masses therein, a plurality of storage bins for storing like masses of refuse, and means controlling the discharging of the receptacles into selected ones of said storage bins.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the separating media are endless conveyors in alignment with one another.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein a housing is disposed about the conveyors and the sorting means and including means to provide a sanitary atmosphere about the refuse.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the refuse receiving station includes an open type conveyor for feeding the refuse to the first separating media means.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 further including a second conveyor means disposed beneath said conveyor for conducting fluid drained through said conveyor to a discharge station. 